Freak of Nature
Blah Blah, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters or stories that I may reference in passing in this chapter. I'm not making any money off of this, so there! Ptttttttt! :-p"
AN1: Thank you for everybody who has either sent me a private message with a comment or question and special thanks to those who sent me reviews. The reviews have been great and have inspired me to keep writing at the pace that I am going, so I appreciate them a lot. Best wishes to you all!
AN2: This is a long chapter, so it probably won't be until late Monday or Tuesday at the earliest before I publish another for this book. I didn't feel right about breaking it up, but this way you get to enjoy a lot of reading in one sitting. I hope you enjoy it.
[Parsel]
/Creapy Crawly/
{Beast Language}
(language other than English)
Chapter 7: Lessons in the Dark
"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." Terry Pratchett
Mutwa had more reasons for getting Harry drunk then just watching Harry make a fool of himself and helping Harry to start getting over his fear of monkeys and their dirty little paws. Mutwa knew that Harry had experienced a very painful childhood prior to coming to the veldt, and the fast paced occlumency training and reliving of Harry's past was going to be insanely painful. Under a full moon, squatting before the fire in front of Mutwa's hut, the cloud of pain from Harry's hangover and fog from the alcohol still in Harry's system was helping Mutwa guide Harry through his painful memories and the sorting of Harry's mindscape. Just as Mutwa's claws from both of his hands, currently clasping Harry's head and drawing small pinpoints of blood, played a role in giving Harry a physical pain to focus on and a connection by which Mutwa could fully connect with Harry's mind and spirit, the pounding in Harry's head from the hangover kept Harry from fully reliving every blow of belt, frying pan, and fist that his relatives had administered to Harry in his younger years. There were much slower and less physically, and psychically, painful methods for creating Harry's mindscape and its protections, but GoGo had told Mutwa that their time was limited. Thus Mutwa was pushing Harry to his limits to train him into what he needed to be. Mutwa had told Harry earlier, as he carried Harry's limp and drunken form over his shoulder and back to his hut from the Marula tree, that Mutwa could not begin to teach Harry magic until Harry's mind was properly organized and protected. Mutwa had been very firm in his stand that the witch doctor's methods for imparting magical knowledge to Harry would drive Harry insane if he didn't have the ability to immediately separate the knowledge and experiences from that of his own original experiences.
"Breath boy, continue to breath."Mutwa said as he squatted on his feet facing Harry. Harry's eyes were tightly clenched in pain as sat Indian-style beside the fire and relived his earliest painful memory; that of the death of his mother and being hit by the killing curse. "Keep ya breath steady, listen to da sound of my voice. Feel da tendrils of my mind as I guide ya memories into der resting places." Mutwa continued, his voice a patient deep droning that helped Harry complete the processing of the memories of his life; all packed into the space of an hour. "aaarrgGGHHHHH!" Harry cried out, cringing and his muscles seizing as he relieved the memory of being struck by the Avada Kedavra from Voldemort's wand that had hit him in the head.
Suddenly, the pain was over, Harry's shoulders slumped as he was able to relax and his mind quickly flipped through the fuzzy happy memories of his first year of life. In his mind, he saw brief glimpses of his father flying with him on a broom, a woman who he thought was his mother yelling at and hexing same father for his action, and Harry pulling himself up to stand by grabbing hold of the ears of a big shaggy grey haired dog. The memories went by too fast for Harry to really enjoy them, but he knew now that they were sorted that he could call upon them at any time. Now was the time for training.
"Ok boy, now I am going ta join ya in ya mental scape. Picture ya self in ya mind, find da core of ya magic and we will meet and start der." Mutwa said.
Harry pulled himself deeper into his mind, tumbling down the proverbial rabbit hole as he sought out the lowest levels of his mind and his oceanic magical core.
Harry and Mutwa appeared and seemed to be standing on some sort of glowing moving shifting fluidic surface that spanned as far as their mental eyes could see; from one horizon to the next. "Dis is ya magic core boy. Ya magic core is special. Ya have tapped into da power of da GoGo, and just as da oceans of da GoGo are too vast ta ever be drained, ya magic can never be drained out entirely." Mutwa said, turning to face the mental projection of Harry's figure, both appearing just as they did in the real world. "As long as ya follow da path dat GoGo appointed ya to, ya can tap into da GoGo." Mutwa said to Harry who was too busy looking around in wonder to fully pay attention to what Mutwa was saying, but Harry heard it none the less.
"Ya have sorted out ya memories, so now it is time dat we protect ya mind and ya spirit." Mutwa continued his lesson. "Just as on da veldt, it is wise to hide and camouflage ya abilities, never let ya enemy know ya full capabilities." Mutwa said, Harry turning to fully focus on Mutwa's guidance. "I want ya to use what ya know. Ya abilities, and the lands dat ya feel most familiar with. We are da Nundu, and we are cagey." Mutwa said with a fierce smile. "First, let us hide ya power, hide da power of da GoGo. Just as the land and da savannas have water underneath them, turn ya ocean into an underground ocean. Add da plains above dem." Mutwa instructed.
In Harry's mind, Harry and Mutwa's figures seemed to float up and above the surface of Harry's magical core, and then suddenly the African veldt appeared to cover the ground from horizon to horizon. Wild grasses and thorn trees appeared around them as their figures settled back onto the ground. A rainforest and jungle could be seen in the distance, and beyond the forest a band of mountains touched into the sky and scraped the clouds. An artificial breeze could be felt, blowing the dry wind of the plains with it; yet it carried no scent as there were no animals existent on the plains as of yet.
"Good boy, ya do good work." Mutwa said with a smile as he examined Harry's work around him. "Now it would be suspicious if ya did no have some magic showing; da enemy would know dat da environment is a trick. Create some watering holes, allow da magic ta seep up and water da earth, just as da GoGo keeps da plains and provides da life giving water to her children." With that said, oasis's, mud-holes, and watering holes appeared to form out of the ground. Hills and dips formed in the plains which allowed springs to let the "water" flow up and imitate the existence of a "normal" wizard's core.
"Good, now we shall start with da protections. First, ya call upon da power of ya siblings. Bring da insects, dat which is small but stings or bites. Dat which is missed but can kill or maim." Mutwa stated looking at Harry's figure. Harry's figure began to blur and become indistinct, and then it was as if Harry's figure dissolved as if it was a fire hose spraying insects to the four corners of his mental terrain. Trillions of poisonous and paralyzing spiders, flying hissing roaches, plague bearing biting flies and mosquitoes, parasitic worms, and every form of irritating and destructive insect known to mankind spread, flew and skittered out to hide in every crevice cranny and plant on Harry's creation. Large acromantulas seemed to descend from the heavens on silk the size of steel bands, landing on the ground and quickly running towards the forests to create their webs and traps. When they had dispersed and hidden from view, Harry's figure faded back into view with his eyes closed. Opening his eyes, Harry waited for the next instruction from Mutwa.
"Ya do good boy, only a couple of more steps. Next, do da same with da snakes, and den we do the fun ones." Mutwa said with an evil smile.
Harry complied. He cast out his hands, and from the ground around him the earth exploded with a roiling boiling mass of serpents. Poisonous and constrictors, camouflaged and brightly colored, the snakes poured out of the ground and went to seed the artificial earth around them with their presence. Turning to Mutwa, task completed, Harry waited for the next task.
"Ya are da Nundu boy. We are da bearers of plague and every disease known to man! Seed da plains with our kin, and den fill da air with our breath!" Mutwa said, his voice issuing deeply from the earth and echoing on the winds as if he was calling to his pack over the horizon. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated, and from far away on the winds he heard the call of first one large cat... and then another, and then another, until from all of the directions was heard the hunting call of the great beasts. One Nundu was known to take more than one hundred wizards to take down, and Harry was calling the spirits of the Nundu into him by the legion! Whereas dragons could be stunned into submission by a handful of wizards, Nundu destroyed all but overwhelming hordes. Opening his eyes, Harry looked out over the plains, and here and there, every now and then, you could see a pair of bright green eyes poke out of the long grass or trees before disappearing again; making one question whether they had ever really seen anything at all or if it had just been a figment of their imagination. Looking to the sky, Harry called the winds. Green and black clouds ushered in around him from every horizon. Great yellowish storm clouds they seemed, but with them came death. The very air was alive with every bacteria, pestilence, plasmic growth, or virus known to muggle or magical; and some yet to be discovered. It saturated the plains, ready to kill any who breathed it who was not born with the natural immunity of the Nundu. The very atmosphere, the ozone and its protective layers of the artificial Earth that Harry had created of his mind was a shielded sphere of poisonous toxic gas and disease. Finished with his defenses, Harry smiled a sharp toothed grin up at Mutwa, Harry's eyes taking on a slit-like cat or serpent's pupil.
"Good, but do no get smug yet boy. We still need ta situate ya memories. Come, run or fly wit me." Mutwa said, and with that, wings like that of the giant condor sprung from Mutwa's back as he took off in the direction of the Mountains. Harry looked after Mutwa as he climbed into the sky, and then closed his eyes to concentrate. Slowly, the skin on Harry's back seemed to shiver, and crawl. A seam split down the skin of his tanned back, and it seemed to separate and hinge from his shoulders as if his armored shin was splitting. Armored plates of skin shifted to the sides of his back to reveal and unfold insectoid wings that began to flutter and flail quickly. Opening his eyes, Harry hovered off the ground by about 3 feet, and then shot into the sky like a bullet, quickly catching up with Mutwa's longer stroking winged figure.
Soaring over first the plains and then the forests, flying through the gusts of disease and the occasional swarm or cloud of insects, Harry was able to look out at his mindscape and see the formidable defenses of pit vipers, crouching prowling patrolling Nundu, and busy acromantula. Before him were the peaks of his mountains, and as he and Mutwa guided towards them, they flew among first the foothills, and then up and over the ridges of the peaks. Clearing the first couple layers of mountains, they came upon a huge valley which Mutwa began to descend into. The two landing in the middle, Harry took the time to look around at what his mind had naturally built. Towering snowcapped mountains formed natural walls that any defending general would salivate over, the jagged and sharp peaks disappearing into the clouds with no gap or pass available. The valley itself was lush and green, with a spring forming a meandering stream through it, and a lake in the middle of it.
"Here," Mutwa said, "Here is where ya will place ya thoughts and memories. Order dem into der places here." Mutwa directed. Harry quirked his head to the side for a second, and in response, herds of horned animals appeared; wandering and strolling through the lush grass as they grazed in their herds.
Mutwa admired the imagination of the boy. He saw that Harry was quick witted and intelligent, and would no doubt serve GoGo and her purpose well. The very form of Harry's mind showed its affiliation with the Earth and the creation of GoGo. Satisfied with his teaching Harry the ordering and protection of his mind, he nodded to Harry for a job well done. "Good, we are done here. Come boy, da night is still young, and I have much ta show ya." With that, Harry and Mutwa disappeared from the thriving, and very dangerous, ecosystem of Harry's mind.
Harry and Mutwa both opened their eyes at the same time as they exited Harry's mindscape. Unclenching his hands from Harry's head and letting his claws retract, Mutwa stood up and turned to tend the fire as Harry adapted to being back in the real world. The moon that had been just breaching the horizon when they had begun the work on Harry's mind was now standing full and high overhead in all its midnight glory; the light from the stars and the moon seeming to fully illuminate the land around Mutwa's hut as if it was daylight. Mutwa continued his work on the fire, wiping his hands on his toga and turned from Harry, Mutwa's claw marks on Harry's face left tracks and trickles of blood to trace down Harry's forehead and neck; but the punctures could be seen to be healing quickly.
As Mutwa added wood and stoked the fire with a charred long stick, his voice issued in a solemn and sober tone down to Harry who stayed seated on a log facing the fire. "Boy, what we are going ta do tonight is no of da natural. Da GoGo has commanded dat I teach ya, dat I train ya as quickly as possible. Wit dat in mind, I have no choice but ta call on da ancestors to come and give ya da training dat ya will need." Turning from the fire and pointing the charred stick right at Harry's chest, Mutwa captured Harry's eyes and somberly stated, "If der is one lesson dat you must learn, if der is one thing dat ya should always remember on da pain of ya immortal spirit it is dis... Never ever ever disrespect da dead." Mutwa's eyes glowed with the reflection of the fire, and it seemed as if the sounds of the night hushed as he continued. "If ya disrespect da dead, even da dead of ya enemy, den ya doom yourself. Da dead are hard to destroy boy. Dey can haunt ya, and dey can kill ya if ya anger dem too much. Da walking dead can be controlled by da spirits, can be raised by da spirits, and neither ya breath nor ya venom can kill dem. Ya claws can slice da walking dead, as magical can affect magical, yet dey won't be easily stopped." Mutwa said, focusing back on the fire. "Keep dat thought in mind tonight boy. Fortunately da dead like ta stay in slumber, like to stay where de deserve ta be. So when I call upon dem tonight, and when I teach ya how to call upon dem wit ya magic, show respect. Alright boy?" Mutwa said, turning his head to look down at the still sitting Harry.
Harry read Mutwa's meaning and somber mood and took the lesson to heart. "Yes Mutwa," Harry said.
"Ok," Mutwa said as he reached down to a pouch that was tied to his waist by a thong of animal tendon. Opening the pouch, he sprinkled some sort of a mix of powder into his hand. "By bones and dust of da ancestors, I call on ya spirits of da cursed child!" Mutwa said to the night sky as the land around the hut hushed all sound and the wind ceased to blow. With this statement, Mutwa took the powdered bone and cremated ash of the dead and threw it into the fire where it instantly caused the fire to flare up five feet into the air and turn into black flame. "By blood of da child, I call on ya givers of love for dis boy!" Mutwa said, and with a quick turn towards Harry, Mutwa wiped his finger through the Blood that tracked down Harry's cheek from his head, and then flung the blood off of his finger into the fire. Immediately the fire flared again, this time to the height of ten feet in the air in a bright red color before it receded into itself and only smoky coals could be seen.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the smoke from the goals began to gather and form wispy figures. The wispy figures, first black and white and indistinct, coalesced and seemed to draw color from the surroundings until floating above the fire were two semi transparent figures; one bespectacled with hazel eyes and a messy mop of black hair, the other with creamy skin, beautiful bright green eyes and a bright red mane of hair.
Harry jumped out of his seat, "Mom?" Harry questioned! The spirit on the right nodded with a smile. "Dad?" Harry gasped! The spirit on the left smiled and nodded. A transcendental voice seemed to issue from far far away as the figure of his mother spoke, "We are so sorry we haven't been there for you honey. We love you so much!" The spirit of his Mother said, ethereal tears glistening in her eyes, you could see that she longed to hold her son but knew that it was impossible. "Son," Harry's dad stated, a solemn sad look on his face, "We wanted so much for to be with you and be able to love you, to be able to guide you, and we are sorry that we weren't able to protect you from all of the abuse from the Dursleys."
Speechless in shock for a second, Harry looked down, and then up at his parent's with tears in his eyes, "Then why," he asked plaintively "Then why did I end up with those Bastards! Why the bloody hell did I have to get beaten and nearly starved every day with your sister and her fat lard of a husband?" Harry said, anger and sadness both warring with his happiness at seeing his parent's again.
At this statement, both of his parents immediately showed anger on their faces, his mother answered his question, "We never wanted you to go live with those sorry excuses for fecal matter!" Lily exclaimed. "You were always supposed to live with your Godfather Sirius Black, but that bastard Dumbledore thought that you needed to be with the Dursley's for the "greater good!" She said, nearly shaking with anger. James put his hand out on Lily's shoulder and then looked back at Harry to continue, "You have to understand Harry," James continued, "that when Voldemort attacked us we had been in hiding. Dumbledore had told us that there was a prophecy about you and how you were probably the only one who could destroy the Dark Lord. He offered to cast the fidelius charm on our place in Godric's Hallow, a charm that would hide us from everybody who didn't know of our secret location, and we accepted; but we chose the wrong secret keeper!" This said, it was Lily's turn to comfort James and continue the story to Harry. "Peter Pettigrew, that lousy little rat, was chosen as our secret keeper at Dumbledore's behest, and we should have been safe with everybody expecting your Godfather Sirius to be our secret keeper. But Peter betrayed us!" She spit out in anger. "Peter was a death eater and he told Voldemort the secret of our hiding and even led him to our house on the night of our death! And then, when Sirius went after Peter to avenge our deaths, Peter escaped and framed Sirius!" With this said, you could see that red-headed fury really coming to a boil, "And Dumbledore, that bloody fucking wanker cast Sirius into jail so that he could have control over you! He is the reason you were at the Dursleys and were abused all of those years! It was Dumbledore's 'Greater Good'" Lily said while making air quotes, "That sentenced you to a childhood of abuse that we could only watch helplessly! It was Dumbledore's Greater Good that keeps Sirius rotting in that hell on earth wizarding prison Azkaban!" At this, James wrapped his arm around the shoulder of his shaking wife.
Harry was stunned. He didn't know who this Dumbledore was, but right then he wanted nothing more than to bloody rip his head off! Fuming and huffing, claws slid out of Harry's fingers as he clenched and unclenched his fists, shaking with anger that somebody could destroy his family and his life all because the man thought he knew best for Harry and wanted to control him. Mutwa took a step closer to Harry and reached out a hand to put on his shoulder, "Breath boy, relax. Dis is why ya must get trained dis night. Dis is why da GoGo sent me, ta help ya balance out da tables. Focus on da now. But soon, ya will have ta go back to dat place and right da wrongs dat were done to ya family." Mutwa said consolingly.
Harry looked up and took a big breath, visibly pushing down his anger within himself and sealing it away for a later time and place. Focusing back on his parents, Harry questioned, "So what now? What am I supposed to do Mum and Dad?"
James looked at his son and gave a small smile, "Now Harry, you listen to Mutwa. You grow up and you live. You show those bastards what they did was wrong and you make them eat their mistakes a thousand fold!" Then, with a smug smirk James added, "And you prank the hell out of them before you destroy them." Which received a sharp elbow in the ribs from Lily, but a smile as well. "We want you to be happy and live Harry." Lily said with a smile, "Maybe find a good girl and have a few children! Unfortunately, there is a true prophecy that you will have to deal with if you truly want to live your life." She said, the cheer losing itself from her eyes with the last bit.
"Alright, I'll deal with it." Harry said with a sigh, "So what is this prophecy that's hanging over my head?" He asked, again sitting on the log by the fire and looking up at his parents and Mutwa.
His mother looked down at him and said, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
The adults were silent as they waited for Harry to contemplate the meaning of the prophecy. Harry was deep in contemplation for a moment, and then questioned his parents, "This Voldemort is the Dark Lord in question?"
"Yes," James said, "At least Dumbledore believed so, and we do believe him on this one. Though his actions surrounding you and our demise make him a bit suspect as being a dark lord as well." Harry's father said, bowing his head and rubbing his head as he pondered his last statement. Looking back up at Harry he continued, "Either way Harry, no matter if it is Dumbledore or Voldemort, as long as either one of them is in power, you will never be truly free. No matter if the prophecy is true or not, both of those wizards will do everything in their power to get at you or control you. So sooner or later, you will have to deal with them and their followers." James said, certainty shining through his eyes as he looked at his son.
The wind blew, and the images of James and Lily wavered above the coals of the fire. The two of them looked at Mutwa, who nodded, and then back at Harry. "It's almost time for us to go Harry," Lily said, "But we want you to know that we love you so much, and will love you no matter what you do." She said. James mirrored her comment, "Take care of yourself, remember to trust your instincts and protect yourself. Kick Dumbledore and Voldemort in the crotch for me while you are at it!" James said with a evil smile. "Goodbye Harry, we love you!" Both of his parents said!
"Goodbye Mum and Dad, I love you too!" Harry replied. Both of his parents smiled at him one more time and then the wind picked up again, the figures dissolving as smoke blown away by the wind.
Harry wiped a tear from his eye and then steeled his features again into his normal mask of hardness. He took a breath, and then focused his attention back to Mutwa. "Thank you for that Mutwa. I really appreciate the chance to talk to them one last time." Harry said.
"Ya are welcome boy. Dat wasn't necessarily da last time, but it will be some time before ya have da ability to call upon them again." Mutwa answers with an understanding smile, his normal stoic demeanor slipping for a second before it returned to his face. Now come, da last lessons of da night mean we must travel a great distance. Follow me but be quiet until I tell ya dat ya can speak." With that, Mutwa turned and started walking out into the night and down the hill towards the river.
As Mutwa walked down the hill, Harry following just behind his right shoulder, Mutwa started humming a strange discordant tune. The sound seemed to crash against Harry's ear, and he realized that as Mutwa hummed the strange tune he felt the magic within him stir and come alive. Harry's skin felt like it was tingling all over, and the sensation grew until he heard a strange tinkling sound as if glass was shattering, and then the land around him changed.
No longer was the land between Mutwa's hut and the river a simple downhill plain covered by simple thorn trees and waving grass blown by the wind. Instead, all around Harry and Mutwa a mist floated out of the ground, the moon became shadowed, and the ground grew mangled sharp trunks of trees interspersed with what appeared to be boulders. At least that is what Harry thought they were at first.
Walking closer and picking a path among the "trees," Harry was able to see that they weren't boulders, but the skulls of giant dead animals, piles of skulls of apes and other animals lay and crunched under his feet when he stepped. What he thought had been trees were really the desiccated husks and spines of large beasts and the tusks of elephants, the land around him even included what appeared to be the remains of a dragon.
Out of his peripheral vision Harry notice fast movement, but it disappeared before he could focus on it! Again, on his other side he caught a flicker, before it too was gone. Not necessarily afraid, but being cautious, he moved closer to Mutwa as the fog seemed to billow up around them and obscure the view of the surroundings; making anything farther away than fifteen feet totally disappear from view.
"Dey, are the spirits of da beasts who have passed beyond. Dis is da famous elephant graveyard, long sought by those who would desecrate it for the riches of da dead animals. De motion, de are da guardians. Do not attempt to take any of these bones if ya value ya life." Mutwa said in a soft voice, almost whispering out of the side of his mouth. "We head to da grave of Isandhlwana." Mutwa continued as Harry looked up at him, careful not to jostle any of the piles of skeletons that they threaded their way through dead. "If ya know da way, or if da spirits guide ya, ya can use da paths of da dead to go from one place where death is strong to another. Ya can travel hundreds of miles tonight, and yet time will not pass, and we can get to Isandhlwana, where you will gain your power in magic; if da spirits so choose." Mutwa said, focusing back on the path through the fog and bones. "Dis way" Mutwa said with a point of his finger, walking into a fog bank and disappearing from Harry's sight.
Harry sped up his step to keep up with Mutwa, stepping into the fogbank, and then suddenly into clear moon filled night. Beside him lay a white stone cairn, and directly in front of him stood Isandhlwana Hill. In the distance, Harry could make out some form of statute or monument, that appeared to be a necklace of lion's claws laying on the ground. Mutwa interrupted Harry's examination of the land around him with an explanation, "Dis is where da British did die. Dis is da site of where da Zulu, wit spear and magic did best da British muggles and der wand wizards. Dis is where we will start, and over dere is where ya will finish; if ya are lucky and ya survive da night. Dis is da battlefield of Isandhlwana, and da fall of da first British invasion. Da people won dis battle, but dey ended up losing da war because they did no have da tools to fight back against da British. Ya must learn ta use these tools if ya want ta win when ya return ta ya country, boy." Mutwa stated, giving Harry a sharp look.
Harry looked up at Mutwa, and nodded his head in silent agreement. With that, he and Mutwa walked up to the white stone cairn of the British dead, the full moon overhead making the white stones to almost glow as if they were skulls.
Walking up to the pile of stones, Harry at his side, Mutwa reached out with his right hand and picked up the top stone off of the pile, and turned and handed it to Harry. Mutwa then took several quick steps back from the pile of stones.
Suddenly an eerie blood curdling scream screeched through the night! A ghastly hissing came out of the air around them, and a green mist seemed to leak out of the stones before Harry and Mutwa. Making a gulp in his throat, Harry took a step back from the pile.
"DESECRATORS! Thieves! Charlatans! Mudblood scum, I will destroy you!" Came a shout from the mist as it turned into the form of a white pith-helmeted British officer, wand in one hand and saber in the other held on high. "I killed many of your Impi and witch doctors before they took me down, and I'll add you to them now!" It said as it took a step down off of the cairn and towards Mutwa as if to run him through, but Harry quickly interposed himself between the Spirit and Mutwa.
"Please sir!" Harry said quickly, showing the stone to the ghost of the dead officer, "He did it on my request, and I'm British sir, Please!" Harry pleaded, remembering Mutwa's comments about respecting the dead; especially since this spirit seemed to be armed!
"What! What did you say boy? British are you? Then what are you doing with this Zulu?" The ghost said, pointing at Mutwa with his saber to further make his point.
"He is teaching me sir, my parents were killed by a dark wizard back in Great Britain, and we only wanted to talk to you. I am Harry Potter sir." Harry said, trying to keep to his most polite voice possible; he had a lot of practice with it too given that he had always had to use it at the Dursleys.
The ghost looked taken aback, and stopped his advance on Harry and Mutwa; who stayed silent during the entire exchange. This was to be Harry's show, and survive or not, it would be up to Harry whether Harry lived through the night.
"Potter did you say? Potter?" The Ghost uttered, sheathing its sword, "Why my sister Dorea married a Potter! Hmmm, what was his name again, Charlus Potter? Why yes! You do have the facial features of a bit of the Potters and the Blacks... Hmmm, you have my nose!" The ghost said, now circling Harry as if examining a soldier.
"I'm sorry sir, but I don't know what you are talking about. My parents were killed when I was one, sir." Harry said, trying to keep track of the still armed ghost who still had his wand out, even if the ghost was using it to tap his chin as it seemed to think.
"That must make you my Grand-Nephew then boy!" The ghost said with a ghost of a smile. "Well then, let me have a look at you! Stand up stand up, straighten up that spine! Suck in that gut soldier!" The ghost said, commanding Harry into an attention position as if Harry were one of his recruits. The ghost emphasized his commands with a push or a hit on Harry, which much to his shock, Harry actually felt... "All the more reason to keep this armed ghost happy," Harry thought to himself as he stood at attention, face forward towards the cairn.
"I am Mage-Colonel first class Scorpius Black, representative of the British Ministry of Magic in its expansion into the Magical Zulu-lands, and you look to be in good shape, but that haircut of yours is an absolute disgrace my boy! A disgrace! We will have to do something about that immediately!" With that said, as quick as a whistle, the ghost of Scorpius Black whipped out its saber and flicked it three times before Harry had a chance to blink!
Harry was shocked to feel his hair tumble down his shoulders and off of his body, a strange feeling of his head feeling lighter and the wind caressing his ears greeted him. He had just been saber shorn! "At least I still have my head on my shoulders," he thought to himself. Harry was too shocked to make a statement.
"Much better, much better my boy, now you look reasonable at least. Make sure to groom it a bit later, and run a comb through it for Merlin's sake boy!" Scorpius said. "Now what did you want to talk about Potter?" The ghost asked as it came around Harry and stood in front of him.
"I have to learn magic sir, if I'm going to survive. There is a prophecy that says that I have to defeat this dark lord, and I was wondering if you could help?" Harry asked, looking up at his great-uncle.
"By Jove yes I can help boy, but it is a bit of dark magic, that is for sure," the ghost of Scorpius Black said as he rubbed his chin in thought, wand still in hand. "If I do this boy, it is going to hurt a lot, so you have to understand that right away. The other thing you have to know is that you will be my heir, so there will be certain responsibilities that you will have to deal with if you return to Great Britain; that includes fulfilling any outstanding contracts or depts." The ghost said, looking deep into Harry's eyes. "Not the Heir of the Family Head of the Blacks, but of my line. Is that clear? Are you willing to pay the price for this Harry?"
Harry looked back at the ghost, the hardness that had been tempered into his spirit by all of the beatings and hardship in his life shining through to the ghost of his ancestor. "Yes, I'll take the pain and the responsibilities. I need this training, and I apparently don't have the time to do it any way else, so bring it on!" Harry said with a steely look.
A big smile broke out on Scorpius's face. "Right'o, good show chap. Well its pretty simple actually. I just have to possess you." The ghost said with a grin. "It will hurt like the dickins and leave you feeling totally out of sorts, but you should learn all of my spell work and be able to use a wand and saber right well if you ever get one in your hands." Then the ghost's smile turned dark as it added, "I was always rubbish at healing, but in death and destruction I was aces. You will know the Black family spells, and what most would call the 'dark arts,' rather well when this is done. So are you still ready for this?" The ghost said, giving Harry a last chance out.
Harry looked the ghost in the eye and said, "Do your worst."
To which the ghost replied as it stepped up to him, "Oh, you will probably wish that I killed you rather than going through this, I hear it's worse than the cruciatus curse." Scorpius said, and with that, he stepped up and disappeared into Harry's body.
Pain, ultimate agonizing pain. It wasn't a fiery pain, no, it was the pain of bone chilling shattering cold; the cold of the grave hit Harry like a ton of bricks. It felt like he was dipped in liquid nitrogen and then had every fiber and nerve in his body systematically struck with little hammers, all at the same time. That was only the physical symptom, his brain and spirit were experiencing the pain of an entirely different sort.
Being skewered by pillars of earth and then torn apart by hundreds of thrusting spear wielding Impi can really put a damper on your day. In Harry's mind, he was reliving the life and very bloody death of Scorpius Black; from his years at Hogwarts and his time in Slytherin, to his study of the dark arts in the Black family home and even his death at the hands of the Zulu witch doctors and Impi.
The life of Scorpius Black flew by before Harry's mind's eye. The next thing he knew, he was laying on the ground coming awake after passing out from mental and physical overload.
"Owwwwwww." Was pretty much the only thing that came to mind and uttered from Harry's lips as he lay staring up at the moon. A few minutes passed, until Mutwa finally leaned over Harry into his view and smiled down at him. "Ya going to get up any time soon boy?" Mutwa questioned.
"That bloody sucked!" Harry said, wiping drool from his chin and tasting a bit of blood from where he must have bit his tongue during the pain. Sitting up, he waited until the earth stopped spinning, before he proceeded to fully get up and look around.
Scorpius was gone, back to his resting place among the dead. The cairn stone that Mutwa had removed and handed to Harry was once again perched upon the top of the cairn as if it had never been removed. Shaking his head, and wondering if it had only been a dream, Harry realized that he could remember all about Scorpius's childhood and life in the Black family. He knew spells that he had never been taught, and dark arts that would surely get him a one way trip to Azkaban if anybody ever learned that he knew them. Even more so, he knew that he would be reasonably handy with a sword or saber in his hand, and he knew how to comport himself as a pureblood scion of wealth in the wizarding world of Great Britian. "This will be very handy," Harry thought to himself with an evil smile, as he sorted all of his new found knowledge into its proper place. He now understood why Mutwa said he would have gone insane if he hadn't already learned how to separate out the knowledge and use it. He had received ALL of Scorpius's knowledge, and that even included the automatic thoughts like how to keep his heart beating and remembering to breathe. It would have been pretty dangerous if he had two competing thoughts telling his heart to beat or his organs to work, so his occlumency skills were definitely needed to sort through the experiences and see what he needed to get rid of.
"Come, we have one more thing ta do before da night is done." Mutwa said as he started to walk away from Harry and towards the monument to the dead Zulu Impi, fully expecting Harry to follow him. Harry did just that.
As they walked up to the monument to the Zulu's who had defeated the British yet suffered over 1,000 dead and more than 2000 wounded, Mutwa turned to Harry and gave him an order. "Just as I stood behind ya at da last grave and stayed silent, so will ya stay silent and back at da other grave until I tell ya otherwise, ya hear me boy?" Mutwa said commandingly.
"Absolutely!" Harry said, fully meaning the answer as they walked up to the giant stone necklace shaped monument.
"Stand here, and do no move." Mutwa said, pointing to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the lions claws that were the middle part of the necklace. Harry did so, as Mutwa continued up the stairs and stepped over the lion's claws until he was in the middle of the monument.
Mutwa held out his hands "Inkuku ukuza!" he shouted, and a chicken appeared in his hands, most likely summoned from a local farm as it slept in its coop. Holding it by the neck in one hand, Mutwa extended the claw on his thumb, and used it to quickly flick, beheading the bird and then dropping both the head and the body on the ground of the monument as both a placation to the ancestors as well as to draw the spirit of the Sangoma, witch doctor, closer to the living world.
As the blood fell and pooled on the monument it seemed to spread for a second, until it suddenly paused its flowing, and sucked back towards the body of the dead flopping bird and then was absorbed into the monument. What issued up from the monument was not the green ghostly vapors that had happened when Scorpius appeared, but rather, it was as if the dust of the ground came up to be joined in a swirl of wind with the misted blood of chicken. All of this was bathed in moonlight, and Harry could feel the hairs on his arms and head try to stand on end as the magic of the world around him sucked towards the monument. With a loud *Crack* or thunderclap, what, or who in this case, was now standing on the monument did not appear as a ghost, but as a real man.
(Greetings Grandfather.) Mutwa said to the figure in Zulu, bobbing his head in almost a small quick bow.
(Greetings Grandson) The Spirit of the Sangoma, ancient witch doctor, replied in the same language, his voice booming out of his mostly naked form, only a loincloth around his waist, a necklace similar to the monument around his neck. Looking up, the spirit noticed Harry standing behind Mutwa and growled, taking a step forward as his hands clenched. With the clenching of his hands, the earth around Isandhlwana began to shake and buckle, rocks tumbled down the hill in the distance as they were shaken loose from their resting places.
(No!) Mutwa commanded in Zulu, (You will not harm the boy! He is under my protection and is to be taught by you! You may not attack him!) Mutwa said as he interposed himself between the vengeful Spirit and Harry who stood at a respectable distance not understanding the dialog that was going on between Mutwa and the Spirit, but clearly recognizing the anger in the eyes of the Spirit.
(He is british! He is white! I hate them! My grandchildren's grandchildren cry out to me in their suffering! This "Apartheid" was brought by the whites and continues to destroy our people! How can you stand there and protect such as him!) The Spirit angrily spat, almost foaming at the mouth to get his hands around Harry or smite him down with magic.
(No! You know the laws! GoGo has commanded that we are to respect the races and species, this is not the one who hurt you, nor is he the one who hurt your children! The rule is clear, you may not hurt this individual!) Mutwa said, holding out his hand to calm and press against the witch doctor. Mutwa stepped forward to tower over the spirit.
(You brought him here! I will do as I please! I curse him...) The Spirit said, attempting to shrug off Mutwa's hand and command the Earth to skewer Harry, the sky's to rend him to pieces with the sharp cutting wind, and the fire to take him!
But Mutwa would not be daunted. His hand shot out and grabbed the spirit by the throat, pulling the spirit off of the ground and strangling off the curse before it could be rendered! Mutwa's eyes flashed gold, and an aura of green and golden power seemed to erupt from Mutwa's form! (No Grandfather! Do not make me destroy you! GoGo has commanded that he be taught. He is not like them who hurt us! He is of us, of the GoGo! Would you attack the messenger of GoGo? Would you attack one who is tied to the GoGo? It is his job to go back to the world of the whites, to their precious civilization and bring it in line with GoGo's will; to balance nature. Would you really fight against GoGo and be destroyed?) Mutwa's voice said, the sky's brewing with sudden thunderclouds that blocked out the moon and stars, and his voice seeming to echo from the sky. Mutwa's eyes flashed, and the horizon was suddenly lit up with the light of a thousand lightning bolts striking the earth and lighting the scene from night to day! "Harry," Mutwa said, not taking his eyes off the spirit, "Show da man ya spirit, call on da power of da GoGo and da Nundu." Mutwa commanded.
Harry did just that, as he looked up into the eyes of the Spirit, who still glared at Harry with malice, Harry began to change. Slowly, his pupils elongated until they were slit cat's eyes, the green of his eyes seeming to glow and radiate their own light. His teeth grew into a sharp toothed maw, and claws sprung out of his hands. Harry hunched down, and then his body seemed to explosively grow in an instant, turning into a towering Nundu that glared balefully down at the Spirit who seemed to be a threat to Harry and Mutwa.
The transformation startled the Spirit! Staring up at the figure of the untamable beats, the spirit of the witch doctor blinked a couple of times as it stared at what had just a moment ago been a white boy but now was filled with the power of GoGo. The spirit could see the magic in the figure before him, and he knew what that magic meant. Suddenly, it burst out of the spirit once, and then twice, a sound deep in his chest.
"Ha... Ha HA, HAHA HA HAHA HAHAHA HA HA HA..." The spirit was laughing, great body shaking chuckles. With these chuckles the land ceased its quaking, at which point Mutwa lowered the spirit to the ground and reigned in his own magic. The clouds seemed to disappear in an instant, and the night was still, if not a little more moist from the storm clouds that had quickly dissipated and been absorbed by the warm night air.
Letting their magic back into their bodies, the two witch doctors took a step back from each other as the Spirit brought his laughter under control.
"Come up here boy. Let me get a look at ya." The spirit of the witch doctor said, now smiling at Harry who was still in his Nundu form. Mutwa turned to stand beside the spirit and also look at Harry.
Harry quickly released the spirit of the Nundu and turned back into his two legged form, looking a bit surprised to be spoken to in English by the spirit of the witch doctor.
"Don't look so surprised boy." The spirit said, without any malice in his voice, "Didn't my Grandson teach ya to know da abilities of ya enemy? I learned English a long time ago when we went ta war with da British." The spirit said, smiling down at Harry. "Well boy? What are ya waiting for? Come up here!" The spirit commanded, sounding very similar to the deep booming voice of Mutwa.
Harry did just that, walked up the steps onto the monument and stepped over the stone claws of the necklace, coming up beside the two taller men.
"Ah yes, I can see da power in ya boy. Ya body is almost on fire with da magic." The spirit told Harry as he looked Harry over. "I can't give ya my knowledge of herbs, and I doubt de would do ya any good in Britian anyway. But I can give ya da ability to see da magic and understand it, to control da elements, and even ta work without a twig, or as da wizards like to call it, a wand." The spirit said to Harry.
Harry smiled at the spirit, "Yes please sir!" he said.
The spirit smiled down at Harry, and his smile morphed into showing a bit of an evil side, "Dis will hurt boy. Are ya ready for it?" The spirit asked.
Harry answered under his breath, "When does it ever not hurt?" He said, as he took a big breath and braced himself.
The Spirit's ear twitched and he smirked as he heard Harry's mumbled words. Stepping in front of Harry, the witch doctor spit in his hand, Clapped his two hands together over his head, and then *POW* used both of his hands to palm smack Harry on both sides of his head!
Harry's ear drums burst, but quickly healed. "Owww..." Harry said, wobbling around from the blow. "Wait, that wasn't so bad..." He said out loud, "But I don't feel any different." Harry said as he looked up in bewilderment at the two witch doctors.
"Wait for it..." The Spirit of the witch doctor said with an evil smile as he and Mutwa took a big step backwards.
*"KAAAAA-BOOOOOOOOM!*
A HUGE bolt of Lightning spilt the clear night sky and struck Harry so hard that he seemed to disappear!... Only to reappear falling to the ground as the bolt had blasted into him so hard that he had rebound off the earth and had flown 15 feet into the air!
AAAAaaaaaagggghhh! *Fwap* Harry's body flailed through the air until it suddenly impacted face first with the ground.
The only sound that could be heard by the two smirking Witch Doctors was a muffled "Owwwwww..." as Harry groaned into the dirt that his face and body had just made a Harry-like impression in.
"How do ya feel boy?" The Spirit's voice said to Harry.
"Owwwww" Harry answered as he found the energy to flop himself over on his back, keeping his eyes closed as they looked to the sky.
"Open ya eyes boy, the view will chase away the pain." Mutwa commanded.
Opening his eyes to the world, Harry was dazzled by the myriad colors and lights that seemed to flood his eyes. The world was simply awash with power! Lines of light ran through the air, stretching out into the distance. A large line, that looked almost like a main cable for an nuclear power plant, ran from the monument to the fallen Zulu and directly towards the Islandhlwana Hill; there it shot into the sky and seemed to spread out in the upper atmosphere! Each blade of grass had its own aura, every tree, even looking down at his hands and body he could see a golden red white and green nimbus that seemed to extend from his body by at least 3 feet.
Looking up at Mutwa and the Spirit, Harry was amazed to see them both awash in the same golden glow, yet both of them only had an aura that extended a few inches from their skin. The Spirit seemed to have a string of light tying from his belly button down to the monument below him.
"Wow!" Harry uttered, the throbbing in his head slowly receding.
"Good boy, ya can see da magic." The Spirit said, "Give ya self a good night sleep, and den tomorrow ya and Mutwa can practice what ya learned from me. For now, blink ya eyes and think of going back to ya original vision."
Harry did just as the Spirit directed, and as he blinked his eyes and willed his sight to go back to "normal," it did just that. Standing up shakily, Harry realized that he still had what felt like a hangover, and his body ached all over from the charge that had hit him.
"Come boy, I'll take ya home a different route so ya don't have to walk it." Mutwa said, walking down the monument and giving Harry's staggering figure a hand up and something to balance on. Turning to the Spirit, Mutwa said, (Thank you Grandfather. It was good to see you again. Tell Grandmother greetings from me.) He said.
The Spirit answered (Yes, I will do so. If I didn't tell her that, then she would come back and haunt you!) The Spirit said with a smile. With that, there was a sucking sound, and the Spirit and any trace of the night's events at the Impi monument disappeared into a vortex in the air; then it too disappeared.
With that done, Mutwa and Harry made a small *Pop* sound, as the two disappeared, apparating away to Mutwa's hut on the Zambezi.
The only evidence that they had even been at Isandhlwana was the distinctly human shaped impression in the ground before the monument.
AN: Well? I hope you are all happy? (I know the truth, the reader is never happy with the length and always wants more*) However, there is something close to 9700 words in this chapter alone; not including the author's notes! That is usually equivalent to two of my normal chapters, so you won't be seeing the next chapter until probably Tuesday at the earliest; I need to catch up on Harry Potter And The Aspects Of Death next. Well, did you like it? Please write me a review. Honestly, if I get enough reviews that inspire me I may put in the extra effort to get another chapter of this out Monday rather than pushing it back a couple of more days. It's all about the inspiration for me, as I'm writing this for fun and to increase my writing ability. So, please give me your thoughts and comments! Best wishes!